I’ve heard of BlogHer, but it wasn’t until this year that I really figured it out and realized what an exciting opportunity it would be to participate in such a huge conference.  Right now I feel I can only dream about such a chance, but maybe, just maybe there is a way for me (or you) to go.  How?  By entering the Label Daddy BlogHer 09 Sponsorship contest that is being run in conjunction with MomDot.

Label Daddy has already agreed to sponsor the MomDot’s MEO’s hotel fees, fully sponsor Sarah at Momma Findings, and now they are offering to pay the convention fees for 2 lucky bloggers!!!  That’s a $200 prize!!  But it gets even better – they are offering to pay the FULL RIDE for one lucky blogger!! This is your airfare, your convention costs, and your hotel fee!  Yep a COMPLETE PACKAGE!

So how do you enter?

First head over to MomDot and read more details here about how to win one of the convention fee sponsorships. But the MomDot criteria are blogging about this contest, and then you’ll need to answer the question “Why is the BlogHer convention important to you and how would this sponsorship assist you?”.  There is then a way to have unlimited entries, but you’ll have to go check out the MomDot post for that info.

Next head over to Momma Findings and enter for a second chance at a convention fee sponsorship.  The method of entry there is “telling in the comment section why YOU think it’s important for businesses to reach out to bloggers” and follow Label Daddy on Twitter and Tweet about the contest.

Finally, you’ll want to enter for the FULL RIDE package over at Scott and Greg’s Label Daddy blog.  Their entry criteria includes “telling a story, minimum 300 words, about you and Label Daddy personalized labels on your blog” and doing some twittering.

I know that many of you have followed my blog for a while, but just in case you are a new reader, let me tell you about myself and my family.  I am the almost 30 year old single Mom of two girls, two amazing girls. Becka is 16 and came to live with us a little over a year and a half ago.  She is probably the most intelligent and driven teenager I have come across (I’m a high school teacher so I’ve come across a few).  This young lady was doing everything she could to be the best she could be, but when it came down to it, her environment was terribly limiting. She was in a school system that was close to being shut down by our fine state.  She was trying to participate in every extracurricular activity she could, but very few of these organizations had sponsors that would give the group the time of day.  After watching her perform a one act play where she was on stage and speaking for almost 30 minutes when she had little assistance by faculty.  They had not practiced. She had no guidance, but she stuck it out.  She performed that day….struggled through those 30 minutes in the limelight and represented herself and her school to the best of her ability.  That day as I watched her and had to hold back the tears (just in case she could see me), I knew I had to do something about it. That day I began researching and determining what we needed to do to get her out of this situation.  As a result, I became her legal guardian so that she could go to my school. In the last year and a half, she has proven to me that it was all worth it – winning district debate championships for our school, moving to be one of the top students in the class (GPA wise), an FCCLA officer, and the Student Council president just to name a few.  She’s literally taking advantage of this opportunity to be the best she can be.

Cameron is my other daughter. She’s 8 and in the third grade.  When I made the decision to invite Becka into our family, I actually discussed this with Cameron. She had been an only child for 6 years – the focus of everyone’s attention.  This was obviously going to be a BIG change in her life for someone to come and live with us.  Not only was she losing attention, but she was losing her play area. We live in a small 2 bedroom house that has a loft area.  Until this point, the loft was the “play room.” Now it would become Becka’s room.  So if Becka came to live with us, Cameron would have to give up her play area, but like I said our house is small. So she had to give up more than her play room…she had to give up a lot of those toys that were in the play area. There simply wasn’t enough room in our house for them if they couldn’t be in the loft.  But Cameron was so great about this and so excited about the idea of having Becka in our house.  She was more than willing to part with her items, if it meant her “Becky” would be with us. And in that time, she’s never been that spoiled baby that I was afraid would come out when it came time for Becka to actually move in.  Never screamed out for attention, helped me go through her precious toys to box up toys for a garage sale, for goodwill, and to pass on to a couple charities.  When we have instances like last Friday night when we have to majorly change plans because of Becka, she never complains – we have truly become our own little family.  And I’ve never been more proud of my little princess.

So why would I be blogging about my girls in a BlogHer post?  Because my girls are why I would like to go to BlogHer.  As mentioned earlier, I’m a single mom to these two girls, and I’m a teacher here in a rural town in Texas, which means that I’m not bringing in a very big paycheck each month.  And because I want my girls to be leaders, to be the best they can be, any extra money we have goes to pay for extras for them (not for Mom)…There are dance and twirling lessons, both play softball which can be costly, there’s fees for FCCLA and StuCo, debate outfits for debate and the list could go on and on.  I try to find ways for a vacation each year so that they see more than our little country neck of the woods (many of our students have never been more than an hour from home….most no more than 3 hours in state).  But when it comes time for Mom?  I can’t justify the cost of things for me – such as going back to school for a master’s degree, paying the costs associated with BlogHer, or frequently even the outfit I see in the window at a favorite store, or my favorite perfume.  I would much rather give to my girls…give them opportunities I didn’t have, and winning this chance to go to BlogHer would be one chance for me to do something for me – a way for me to learn more about this hobby that has become my passion, a chance to network and maybe learn how to take my blog to a place I dream of, but am not sure how to do, to find the best way to implement a couple of the blogs I have in mind but I don’t know where to begin, and maybe a way to make a blog that provided us with some extra money so that my checking account didn’t hit 0 each month and not just do the paid posts that are the “popular” way to go that make your blog look “blah”.  Winning a scholarship to BlogHer would be a rare time when I could do something that was really for me.  And maybe that sounds selfish, but knowing that the only way I will be going is if it’s through the generosity of others I think shows that is because of my unselfish nature that I’d like this one chance to be selfish.

Would you like to go to BlogHer, but it’s only possible if you can get a sponsor? Then go check out

BlogHer 09 Sponsorship Contest at MomDot

Label Daddy Wants to Send YOU to BlogHer ’09 at Momma Findings

Label Daddy Full BlogHer ’09 Sponsorhip at Label Daddy